COMPUTER programmer Iain Fildes lives and works in Kelfield, a village without mains gas supply or a village shop - let alone broadband.

Even so, Iain's company, Cyber Mill, has just launched Phosys, a new product that promises to boost the world of wedding photography firmly into the 21st century.

Phosys, he claims, enables even the most computer-illiterate photographer to upload pictures on to the web and offers customers a service right at the cutting edge of technology.

It's already creating a buzz among professional snappers; one photographer trialling the system has reported a 20 per increase in orders.

Happy couples are also impressed because, through Phosys, wedding photos are available to view just hours after the big day, enabling guests to browse them at their leisure and purchase direct from the Internet.

Iain, who grew up in Wheldrake, said: "I spotted a gap in the market when I was creating a website for Wilberfoss-based photographer Mark Sanderson, who wanted an easy way to put his photos online.

"That was when we realised that doing so took skills that most photographers don't have."

Iain has spent the past year designing, creating and perfecting the system, which automatically watermarks and sizes the photos, creating password-protected online albums.

Although photographers don't need a website to use Phosys, it can be linked to existing sites and can be easily customised for individual needs.

It even allows photographers to print out cards to hand out to wedding guests, giving them the address of their own special album.

Mark, who has been trialling Phosys, said: "My customers love it because the photos are there for them to look at just a couple of days later. Plus, more guests are visiting the site and I'm selling lots more reprints.

"It has now paid for itself several times over and, obviously, with a lot of people now ordering online, it has saved me a substantial amount of time."

So confident is Iain of Phosys's benefits that he is offering photographers a free 30 day trial, downloadable from his website at www.phosys.com.

Iain has 20 years' experience in the computer industry, most recently for Diagonal Solutions in Leeds, where he was involved in a number of government contracts, including the logging of parliamentary questions and management of government files.

Updated: 09:44 Thursday, October 14, 2004